Shim



April 1934- w. H. BLACKMER El AL 1,955,714

SHIM

Filed Nov 30 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i Illlll A mu:

KER

INVENTORS WALDG H BLAC ARLE L.

April 1934- w. H. BLACKMER ET AL 1,955,714

SHIM

Filed Nov. 50, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WA Ld rN-L lF/i c KM an.

Patented Apr. 17, 1934 NTED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHIM ApplicationNovember 30, 1932, Serial No. 644,970

12 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shims for use in connectionwith split bearings of internal combustion engines and other mechanicalequipment in which the shim has a solid body portion to which is secureda soft face portion, which may be of babbitt or similar material and theinvention more particularly relates to the manner by which the faceportion is secured to the body portion.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a composite shimwhich may be of solid or laminated construction and which is providedwith an embedded facing member of softer material which is secured toall of the body elements in interlocking arrangement to preventloosening of the parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a composite shim having ahard body portion and a softer facing portion in which the facing por- 2tion is more firmly interlocked and embedded with the body portion so asto prevent separation of the parts during shipment or due to expansionand contraction of the shim parts when in use in the bearing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shim having a facingmember secured to the body portion of the shim in which the body membersall have planar front faces and in which the facing member is secured byinterlocked and dovetailed grooves and may be equally as well securedthroughout the front face or merely at the edge portions of the shim.

Another object of this invent-ion is to provide a composite shim havinga softer metal facing member in which the shim body portion is composedof aplurality of individual sections of substantially identical outlineand the same principal dimensions, but in which certain of the sectionsare reversed with respect to other sections to afford an interlocked andembedded connection for the facing member.

Another object of this invention is to provide a composite shim forbearing members in which the facing member will be interlocked andretained in embedded relation with the body members and in which themajor dimensions of all of the body members are substantially equal, butin which the body members may have differently shaped and spacedprojections so that when assembled, the resultant recesses for receivingthe softer facing material will be irregular and provide interlocks forthe facing material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a compound shim with acritical plane face for all the elements, certain of the elements havingdiiferent recesses whereby the composite shim will offer a series ofirregular openings for interlocking thefacing metal.

Another object of this invention is to provide a composite shim forbearings in which the solid body portion is not limited to brass but maybe of steel or other material inasmuch as the irregular projections ofthe face afford such interlocking recesses that the Babbitt metal facingwill be secured to the body irrespective of the adhesion of the facingmetal to the body material.

Various other objects and advantages of this invention will appear fromthe following description thereof taken in connection with the attacheddrawings which illustrate preferred forms of embodiment thereof and inwhich:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of shim of composite form andhaving a babbitted facing portion,

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the shim shown in Figure 1,

Figures 3 and 4 are'leaves or sections of a shim, Figure 4 being thereverse of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a partially completed shim formed of aplurality of similarly shaped elements shown in Figures 3 and 4- inwhich the intermediate element is in the position shown in Figure 4 andis reversed to the outer elements which are in the position shown inFigure 3,

Figure 6 is a vertical section substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure1,

Figure 7 is a bottom plan view looking up, of the shim shown in Figure 5before the facing member is applied,

Figure 8 is a vertical section substantially on the line 8-8 of Figure5,

Figure 9 is a side elevation of a modified form of shim,

Figure 10 is an end elevation of the shim shown in Figure 9,

Figures 11 and 12 are side elevations of the respective differentelements forming the shim shown in Figure 9,

Figure 13 is a bottom plan view of the shim shown in Figure 9 with thefacing members attached thereto,

Figure 14 is an enlarged vertical section of the shim takensubstantially on the line 14-14 of Figure 9, and

Figure 15 is a side elevation of a part of a shim with one of the outerelements partly removed.

In the use of shim spacing elements for divided shaft bearings,particularly in'connection with high speed and high pressure bearings asare 110 used in automotive and other engines it has been found desirableto affix a soft facing member 10 to the body element 12 to permitfitting of the shim closely to the shaft to prevent oil leaks from thebearings and yet not have the hard body of the shim score the shaft.Such shims must have the qualities of being readily formed so that thefacing member of babbitt or similar material is firmly embedded orinterlocked in the body portion and will not drop out or be pounded outin hard wear or under severe operating conditions and will not becomeseparated due to repeated heating and cooling of the bearing.- It isfurthermore essential that the shim be simply manufactured with theminimum amount of toolsand die equipment and that the front face of theshim to which the babbitt is attached be uniform and planar to afford aneven face for assembly in the die or mold when casting the facingthereon.

In the present construction which illustrates preferred forms ofembodiment to which our invention is particularly susceptible we haveshown a composite shim 12 which may be built up from a plurality ofindividual body elements 12a, 12b, and 120, which may be of either solidor laminated construction as desired. These body elements are preferablyall of the same outline and may be stamped from brass, steel or othersuitable material in the same die. In the form shown, indentations arecut into the body portion forming tongues 14 in the nature of serratedblock teeth, at a small angular inclination to the front face of theshim. The ends of all the tongues 14 are preferably all in alignment andconstitute the front face 16 of the body of the shim. The body elementsmay be suitably perforated at 18 to receive the bearing bolt (not shown)and at 19 for centering the shim on the bearing dowels (not shown) as isthe usual custom.

The tongues 14 are preferably of block form and in depth approximatelyequal to the distance between teeth although this may be varied ifdesired to give any desired support for the babbitt face.

Each of the shim body elements may also have a long lip portion 20 and ashort lip portion 21 at each end of the body portion which lips are dueto the angular relation of the teeth.

In assembling the shim, an odd number of body elements are preferablyused and as shown, three in number is satisfactory. The center element12b is the same as elements 12a and 120 but is merely reversed from theother elements 12a and 120 giving a resultant construction as shown inFigures 5 and 7. It will be noted that the lip portions 20 and 21 thusoverlap and the tongues 14 also extend in opposite direction.

This overlap thus forms inner recesses 22, not only between therespective teeth 14 on each element but between the overlapped portionsof the teeth on the adjacent elements. Into these recesses 22, babbittor similar metal is cast giving the resulting structure as shown inFigure 5 in which the facing member 10 projects into the recesses formedin the face of the body portion and extends in some portions 10a deepinto the recesses 22 and becomes embedded between the respective bodyelements. The babbitt also projects into angular contact with the outersurfaces as shown at 10b in Figure 1 and at 100 on the extreme end ofthe teeth in such manner that the babbitt is firmly embedded andinterlocked into the serrated teeth of the respective body elements andwill thus be securely held thereto.

The front faces of the teeth 14 are parallel and form an aligned frontface 16 for the shim, such alignment permitting the body elements to beassembled readily in the casting die with the proper spacing andrelation between the bearing bolt, which passes through the perforation18, and the front line of the babbitt which contacts with the shaft. Inother Words the fixed size of the bearing is the distance between thebolt hole 18 and the front edge of the babbitt and if the body membersare provided with a uniform front face 16 and there is a definitedistance between the center of the bolt hole and the front face 16 thebody portions can be accurately located in the die and the babbitt castthereon will also be uniform and the bearings will all fit in theposition intended. The rear faces 23 of the shims are also preferablyplane surfaces although there is no necessary relation between the bolthole 18 and the rear surfaces of the bearing, the rear surfaces beingmerely formed to provide substantial' and sufficient backing in thebearing.

The angle of the tongues may be varied but a small angle is usuallysufficient as the effectiveness of the angle is doubled due to thereversing of the intermediate body element. As may be noted in Figure l,the babbitt engages the sides of the tongues of the respective bodyelements in such manner that it is doubly held and exerts a greateradhesion than would be the case if only a single row of tongues wereused with double the angular deviation. It is also to be noted that thetongues 14 on the body element 12a, for example, of the outer bodyelement overlap the tongues 14 on the body element 12b or the inner bodyelement in such a manner that there can be no lateral movement of thefacing member 10, which construction is more clearly shown in Figure 6.In this construction the facing 10 is substantially uniformly held atall points and there is no narrow or restricted neck of babbitt whichmight be easily broken to cause the facing to become separated from thebody of the shim. The facing member is, of course, further locked due tothe different angular faces of the teeth of the respective body elementswhich are re-= versed with respect to each other. In such a constructionit is not essential to make the body laminations of metals to which thefacing metal will closely adhere, as the facing metal is closelysurrounded on all but the front side and can not therefore come loose.

The casting of the shim is readily accomplished by a preliminaryalignment of the body elements and the openings are suiliciently large.

so that the cast metal will readily fiow into the openings. There are nopockets and the metal will flow freely into contact with all parts ofthe shim.

A slightly modified form of construction is shown in Figures 9 and 15inclusive in which the body elements of the shim, although they are ofslightly different configuration, are nevertheless of the same generaldimensions and may be made in the same die by a slight variation of theinserts. The assembled shim 25 is shown in Figure 9 to which has beenapplied a suitable facing of babbitt or similar metal 26. In theparticular instance the babbitt facing has been applied only to theends, leaving a central opening 27 which may effectively operate as anoil reservoir on the shaft. It is obvious, however, that the babbitt mayextend across the face of the shim as shown in Figure 1, and also thatthe facing member in Figure 1 may be applied only at the ends ifdesired.

In this second form of embodiment of the invention the body elements 28and 29 which may be of either solid or laminated construction, are ofsubstantially the same major dimensions, and the shape of the front edge30, of the intermediate and the outer body members is varied. The bodyportion of the shim 28 is provided with a pair of laterally extendingarms 31 which are provided with keystone shaped elements 32, which arepr ferably provided with apertures 33 for a purpose to be hereinafterdescribed. The body portion of the shim 28 is provided with a keystoneportion 34 having the front face 30 with which the keystone elements 32are in alignment forming the front face of the body portion. Thekeystone of the body portion 3a cooperates with the keystone elements 32in such a manner that the opening formed is of greater dimensions on theinside and has a slightly restricted neck due to the ends 35 which tendto anchor the babbitt facing member 26.

The second body element 29 is provided with similarly extending arms 31and has a similar keystone portion 34 and the arms each have a dependingtooth 36. The depending teeth or angular elements 36 are preferably atreverse angles and thus face each other. The resulting construction thushas a plurality of openings 37 which are of greater width on the insidethan on the outside due to the ends 35 on the keystone body portion 34and the ends of the angular teeth 36.

A preferable assembled construction includes top and bottom body members28 and a central body element 29 sandwiched therebetween. In suchconstruction the face of the body member presents a plurality ofirregular openings, allof which have a greater width in their innerportion than the outer edge which has the reduced neck. When cast thebearing metal flows into the irregular openings resulting in the shimconstruction shown in Figures 9 and 14. The Babbitt metal 26 fills theapertures 33 and enters into the bottom of the recesses 32a and 3'7. Thedepending teeth 36 cooperate with the keystones 32 and in turn the teeth36 and the keystones 32 cooperate with the keystone shape of bodyportion 34 to securely retain the babbitt in po sition. The completeshim is shown in bottom plan view in Figure 13 and in end view in Figure10. In Figure 15 the shim is shown with a portion of the outerlamination 28 broken away showing the internal extension 31 and tooth 36and the babbitt in the aperture 33. It will be seen that the irregularform of the babbitt is securely interlocked to the shim body elementsand embedded in such a manner that it can not be accidentally loosened.

The alignment of the front edge of the shim is similar to that shown inthe first form. The edge of each of the respective keystones is inproper relation to the bolt hole 18 which is similarly true of the endsof the respective teeth 36 in the intermediate body element. With suchan arrangement it is possible to control the size of the shim and therelation of the edges of the cast metal with respect to the center ofthe bolt of the shim due to the inter-relation of the depending teeth 36and the keystones 32. The Babbitt metal cannot pass longitudinally awayfrom the shim because of the angular relation ,of the keystones andadditionally because of the Babbitt metal which extends into theapertures 33. These apertures tend to assist in compacting and securingof the shim body elements to each other and aid in maintaining theproper thickness and integral relation of the built-up shims.

It is to be understood that throughout this specification the use of theword babbitt is intended to cover suitable alloys which may be used inconnection with the facing of shims and which will not score rapidlyrotating shafts when brought in contact therewith and is not intended tolimit the facing material to any definite babbitt alloy. The shim bodyis usually made of a hard material such as brass, and may be made ofsteel and it is also to be understood that although a single bolt holeis shown it is possible by a rearrangement of the body portion to have aplurality of bolt holes and the outline of the shim will follow thebearing caps as is well known in the art. It is also to be understoodthat although three laminations are shown, a larger number could asreadily be used and thin laminae for peeling could also be provided ifdesired.

While we have shown preferred forms of embodiments to which ourinvention is particularly adapted we are aware that other modificationsmay be made therein and we therefore desire a broad interpretation ofour invention within the scope and spirit of the disclosure and of theclaims appended hereinafter.

We claim:

1. A shim for split bearings of the class described comprising aplurality of stacked body elements, each of said elements having regularangular projections, one of said body elements being reversed withrespect to the other body elements, to form a plurality of depressionspartially overlapped in a plane transverse to the body portion, all ofsaid body elements forming a plurality of reduced neck depressions onthe edge, the front edge of said depressions being in alignment, and afacing member embedded in said depressions.

2. A hearing shim for split bearings of the class described, comprisinga plurality of body members, each of said body members having angularprojecting serrated teeth, one of said body elements being reversed withthe teeth projecting in a direction opposite to that of the remainingteeth, said teeth of all said body elements being in alignment along thefront of the shim and forming internal irregular depressions and afacing member embedded in said depressions and in interlockingengagement with said teeth whereby said facing is held irremovable withrespect to the body element.

3. A bearing shim for split bearings of the class described, comprisinga plurality of body members, each of said body members having anularprojecting serrated teeth, said teeth of all said body elements being inalignment along the front of the shim and forming internal depressionspartially overlapped by said teeth, and a facing member embedded in saiddepressions and in interlocking engagement with said teeth whereby saidfacing is held irremovable with respect to the body elements.

4. A composite shim for split bearings of the class described, a bodyelement having a plurality of keystone elements, a second body elementhaving a plurality of keystone openings in a tion and a soft facingportion non-removably sestaggered relation to and overlapping thekeystone elements of the other body element, thebody elements beingstacked with difierent body elements adjacent each other, said keystoneelements forming a plurality of irregular shaped openings and a facingmember embedded in said openings.

5. A shim of the type described comprising a laminated body member and afacing member, the respective laminations of said body member, havingsimilar extensions forming indentations, the indentations of onelamination overlapping body member extensions in the other laminations,to form an irregular system of connected indentations to receive afacing member said facing member inter-engaging with the overlappingindentations.

6. A shim including a plurality of superposed hard metal body portionshaving depending serrated teeth, certain of the teeth being angularlydisposed with respect to other teeth, said teeth forming recesses andother teeth overlapping said recesses, and a bearing metal facing memberat one edge of the body engaging the registering recesses of all of saidbody portions, whereby said facing member is immovable in either theplane of or plane perpendicular to the shim.

7. A shim comprising an odd number of laminations all of the laminationsbeing of substantially the same shape and size in their principaldimensions, each of said laminations having regular angular projectionsand recesses, said laminations being assembled with the angularprojections reversed and the projections of one lamination overlappingthe recesses of another lamination and forming interlockingindentations, and a facing member embedded in said indentations.

8. A shim as claimed in claim 7 in which the laminations are identical,the center lamination being reversed with respect to the outerlaminations to form overlapping interlocking recesses.

9. A composite shim having a hard body porcured thereto, said bodyportion being composed of a plurality of separate body members eachhaving recesses in the front face thereof which are in staggeredrelation With the recesses in the adjacent body members, the facingportion having projecting portions which extend into each of saidrecesses to thereby interlock said facing portion to the body portion intwo planes.

10. In a composite shim of the type described a hard body portionconsisting of a plurality of stacked body members each body memberhaving a plurality of recesses with intervening tongues, said bodyportions being assembled with the recesses of one body member oppositeto the tongues of the adjacent body member, and a facing member havingprojections extending into each of said recesses in the. body member.

11. In a compo-site shim of the type described a hard body portionconsisting of a plurality of stacked body members, each body memberhaving a plurality of recesses with intervening tongues, said bodyportions being assembled with the recesses of one body member oppositeto the tongues of the adjacent body member, a facing member havingprojections extending into each of said recesses in the body member, andmeans on some of the projections of said facing member to hold saidmembers in assembled relation. 12. As an article of manufacture of theclass described a bearing shim comprising a plurality of differentshaped body elements having substantially identical over all major bodydimensions, portions of said body elements forming indentations, theindentations being open transverse to the face of the body portions, andother portions partially overlapping said indentations, the indentationsof the different body members having reduced neck portions internallyopen to the sides, and a facing member interlocked in said indentations.

WALDO H. BLACKMER. EARLE L. YOUNG.

